Tapping in Synchrony with Beat Enhances Groove Sensation: Evidence Supporting Active Inference

Music listening induces a pleasurable urge to move, termed groove, which the active inference framework explains as a motivation for bodily movement that emerges to refine beat and metrical predictions under rhythmic uncertainty. If this is the case, does bodily movement modulate the groove sensation? We asked 42 participants to rate urge-to-move and pleasure after withholding movement or tapping on the onbeat or offbeat within a four-beat meter while listening to melodies with three degrees of syncopation. At the low degree of syncopation, urge-to-move and pleasure ratings were higher in both the onbeat and offbeat tapping conditions compared with the no-tapping condition. Furthermore, relative to the offbeat and no-tapping conditions, onbeat tapping increased groove-related ratings by enhancing neural and behavioral entrainment to the beat, as reflected in the steady-state evoked potentials in electroencephalography and intertap interval variability, respectively. These findings support the active inference account, which posits that bodily movement enhances groove sensation by refining beat and meter predictions.